Yamaha DTXpress/DTXplorer/DTXtreme

all,

just some ideas based on dtxpress & general edrum experience (your 
mileage may vary):

1)regarding an old thread on this board on sticks, I'd highly 
recommend nylon tipped sticks & NOT using anything heavy like 
marching tom sticks.  The latter will eventually damage the piezos, 
break internal solder joints, or knock the piezo from the backing 
plate.  I've repaired several pads in the past due to this.

2)alot of the problems i've seen you guys having w/ the midi note 
numbers is due to interference from the Universal Map.  Go into the 
Utility menu to edit this.  The way I operate, I like to set ALL 
midi/drum assignments in the kit, as I don't trigger the dtxpress 
from an external source.  I forget right now whether I killed all the 
assigments, or mapped everything from 0 to about 16, so that no 
future pad assignments would conflict.  I think you can zero it out 
to where it says "note assigned in kit" or something like that  (my 
drum kits are all midi'd like this:  kick 21, snare 22, closed hh 23, 
open hh 24, tom1 25, tom2 26, tom/perc/cym3 27, tom/perc/cym4 28, 
tom/perc/cym5 29.  this habit started because emax samplers start on 
note 21, & that way I can trigger keyboard voices on the lower 
octaves while a keyboardist can play different sounds on the rest of 
the board).  anyhoo, this universal map can be a big pain if you like 
to customize midi note numbers.

3)ditch the yamaha cymbal pads.  someone has already mentioned using 
a tp60 for the ride.  I'd use them for crash too

4)upgrade the kick to an inverted beater.  I have both the S&S & the 
pintech ergo kick.

5)this last tip isn't for everyone, but works well for me & may solve 
alot of you guys' hihat problems...ditch the pedal & use 2 pads...one 
for closed HH & one for open.  depending on how you play, put the 
closed more or less in the normal HH position (perhaps a little 
lower), then the open HH pad right above & to the right.  this will 
take some practice, but the "smearing" together of open & closed is 
much more realistic.

again, just some ideas from experience.  number 5 may not be 
advisable if you are only using edrums for practice & regularly play 
an acoustic kit.  however, whenever I hop on an acoustic (or edrums 
w/ pedal) kit, I can still play HH the normal way.

On Tue, 22 Oct 2002 19:56:21 -0000, you wrote:


>1)regarding an old thread on this board on sticks, I'd highly 
>recommend nylon tipped sticks & NOT using anything heavy like 
>marching tom sticks.  The latter will eventually damage the piezos, 
>break internal solder joints, or knock the piezo from the backing 
>plate.  I've repaired several pads in the past due to this.

Why nylon tip sticks?  The force of a wooden tip stick hitting the pad
is the same as the force of a nylon tip stick hitting the pad...  I
can see a preference on an acoustic set because the tips sound
differently, but on an electronic kit they sound the same.

>3)ditch the yamaha cymbal pads.  someone has already mentioned using 
>a tp60 for the ride.  I'd use them for crash too

I use a TP60 for my ride.  I find the PCY80 and PCY80S fine for
crashes.

>4)upgrade the kick to an inverted beater.  I have both the S&S & the 
>pintech ergo kick.

My KP60 was dropping triggers just like everyone else's when I first
set it up.  Upon some experimentation, I found that a shaped beater (I
use that Pearl Quad Beater) and finding the "sweet spot" of the
trigger pad cured the problem.  It took some fiddling around, but I
found a spot on the pad that would trigger a sound no matter what.  My
KP60 has been trouble free ever since, about a month now.

Something I haven't worked out yet to my satisfaction is how to
route/wrap/secure all the cables in a neat and orderly fashion.  I
hate the look of all those cables just hanging from the rack, drooping
to the floor...I'm talking about where they meet the trigger brain.
What's everyone else doing with all of their cables?



Jim Tonak
ratzo@...

Regarding the mess of cables: I use a black spiral wrap to bundle the 
cables. I start just a few inches out of the module, and wrap all the 
way to the end. I put a cable clamp near the end, and screw it to the 
module mounting plate to keep everything plugged in. The individual 
cables come out of the wrap at different places - in the order they 
get hooked up. I need no labeling. everything stays plugged in at the 
module. The length of the cable and where it comes out of the wrap 
tells me what pad it plugs into!!
Scott

--- In DTXpress@y..., Jim Tonak <ratzo@t...> wrote:
> On Tue, 22 Oct 2002 19:56:21 -0000, you wrote:
> 
> 
> >1)regarding an old thread on this board on sticks, I'd highly 
> >recommend nylon tipped sticks & NOT using anything heavy like 
> >marching tom sticks.  The latter will eventually damage the piezos, 
> >break internal solder joints, or knock the piezo from the backing 
> >plate.  I've repaired several pads in the past due to this.
> 
> Why nylon tip sticks?  The force of a wooden tip stick hitting the 
pad
> is the same as the force of a nylon tip stick hitting the pad...  I
> can see a preference on an acoustic set because the tips sound
> differently, but on an electronic kit they sound the same.
> 
> >3)ditch the yamaha cymbal pads.  someone has already mentioned 
using 
> >a tp60 for the ride.  I'd use them for crash too
> 
> I use a TP60 for my ride.  I find the PCY80 and PCY80S fine for
> crashes.
> 
> >4)upgrade the kick to an inverted beater.  I have both the S&S & 
the 
> >pintech ergo kick.
> 
> My KP60 was dropping triggers just like everyone else's when I first
> set it up.  Upon some experimentation, I found that a shaped beater 
(I
> use that Pearl Quad Beater) and finding the "sweet spot" of the
> trigger pad cured the problem.  It took some fiddling around, but I
> found a spot on the pad that would trigger a sound no matter what.  
My
> KP60 has been trouble free ever since, about a month now.
> 
> Something I haven't worked out yet to my satisfaction is how to
> route/wrap/secure all the cables in a neat and orderly fashion.  I
> hate the look of all those cables just hanging from the rack, 
drooping

> to the floor...I'm talking about where they meet the trigger brain.
> What's everyone else doing with all of their cables?
> 
> 
> 
> Jim Tonak
> ratzo@t...

> Something I haven't worked out yet to my satisfaction is how to
> route/wrap/secure all the cables in a neat and orderly fashion.  I
> hate the look of all those cables just hanging from the rack,
> drooping to the floor...I'm talking about where they meet the trigger
brain.
> What's everyone else doing with all of their cables?

We're using a 8x8 snake. The one we have comes (I think all of them come
this way) with eight cables of different colours. we had to modify it a bit,
cutting the cover on one end, but it's the best solution we found.
---------------------------------------------
Patricio Murphy
NAN - Buenos Aires, Argentina
http://www.gruponan.com
ICQ 19416686

--- In DTXpress@y..., Jim Tonak <ratzo@t...> wrote:
> On Tue, 22 Oct 2002 19:56:21 -0000, you wrote:

> 
> Why nylon tip sticks? 

>>>>>>>I should have clarified that point...the nylon is to ease the 
head wear/crumbling

> I use a TP60 for my ride.  I find the PCY80 and PCY80S fine for
> crashes.

>>>>>>>just mentioned it as something to try

> >4)upgrade the kick to an inverted beater.  I have both the S&S & 
the pintech ergo kick.

>>>>>>>again, a suggestion.  also takes up less room & is quicker to 
setup.  I play live fairly regularly, so every simplification helps.

> Something I haven't worked out yet to my satisfaction is how to
> route/wrap/secure all the cables in a neat and orderly fashion.  I
> hate the look of all those cables just hanging from the rack, 
drooping
> to the floor...I'm talking about where they meet the trigger brain.
> What's everyone else doing with all of their cables?

>>>>>>>if you have access to Ikea, go there & buy the cable 
management thing they sell.  it is a flexible corrugated plastic tube 
w/ a slit down the side, about an inch in diameter.  comes w/ cable 
ties & is available in black, white & silver.  similar solutions are 
available elsewhere, but i find Ikea to be cheapest.  I think its 
around $3.00.  I have 9 trigger cables plus 2 other cables in 
mine...looks very cyber/H.R. Giger-ish :)